


dream of connection (are you even real?)

by NOIRequin



Series: add this song to your heart [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Dreams, Dreams vs. Reality, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Inspired by Music, Ladynoir July, Ladynoir July 2020, Ladynoir | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Love Confessions, Partners to Lovers, Plans For The Future, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Post-Reveal Pre-Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Songfic, rooftop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:01:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25278922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NOIRequin/pseuds/NOIRequin
Summary: Chat fell asleep on a rooftop waiting for his Lady. His tired brain created for him a very beautiful dream filled with happiness. As it turned out, reality can be much more promising.Written for LadyNoir July 2020.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: add this song to your heart [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1876561
Comments: 8
Kudos: 110





	dream of connection (are you even real?)

**Author's Note:**

> This fluffy dreamy piece was inspired by James Blake's newest song [Are You Even Real?](https://bit.ly/2CfFitd). Seriously, it's heavenly beautiful and fits LadyNoir and Chat's vision so well (even strawberry fields, oh gosh!). Please, listen to it.  
> It may be considered written for LadyNoir July. I included in this story post-reveal pre-relationship, a confession, sacrifices, walls between them and more prompts from the list.  
> I'd like to thank [Khanofallorcs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khanofallorcs/pseuds/Khanofallorcs) and [Speckleflower](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Speckleflower/pseuds/Speckleflower) for beta-reading, [LambdaSoup](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LambdaSoup) and [MiaBrown](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiaBrown/pseuds/MiaBrown) for their opinions, and Miraculous Fanworks Discord server for the endless support and encouragement.  
> Enjoy!

Chat lay on a secluded rooftop, gazing at the moon and stars that were pretty hard to distinguish due to light pollution. Paris was never silent, but at night the city was a little quieter. Fewer cars and pedestrians were on the streets, only soft or upbeat music could be heard from bars or restaurants. And occasionally lovers or criminals that hid their sins in the dark could be spotted down there.

The tension was slowly leaving his body. The hero loved those quiet nights when after a bunch of events from civilian life topped by tiresome patrolling he could just lay down, trace the constellations as his own form of meditation and calm down his racing mind. It would be better if Ladybug were here with him, but he used to be alone, and she had her own life, after all, so he didn't complain.

Chat replayed the events of the last few weeks in his mind. He couldn’t help but think about his beloved lady. How long had they fought side by side? He knew the exact number of the years (and maybe even days? It’s not that he counted it intentionally hehe), but it seemed like forever. Everything had changed around them - schools, friends, relationships, small hobbies, preferences in music, and movies. But their bond and trust in each other remained unbreakable.

Now he was blessed to see his lady in school every day. They already knew each other's identities. He couldn't say that it made their lives easier because now they both carried one more secret. But he was ridiculously happy when the truth revealed. How couldn't he be? The two most amazing girls in his life merged into one! She, on the other hand, freaked out immediately after the reveal, but then calmed down and assured him that she accepted both of his identities. They left the topic of their relationship undiscussed, but they knew that talk was inevitable. Both Chat and Ladybug tried to ease the tension and to leave the awkwardness behind as much as they could without touching the elephant in the room.

Chat was more mature now; he understood that he shouldn’t pressure his Lady and drag her into anything romantic when she already had so much on her plate. He tried to be a better partner and help her, share with her the burden of Guardianship that took a toll on her. He took more patrols by himself, backed her up, and got all the notes when she chose the much-needed sleep instead of classes, collected all the necessary ingredients for power-up potions. He also wore different Miraculouses to let kwamis out of the Miracle Box and adjust to their powers; so did Ladybug. Chat was happy to share everything with her; his partner and Guardian was happier and calmer, and that was all that mattered. 

He almost forgot about the other boy she loves in that whirlwind of emotions, then he remembered, and closed in on himself for a bit after that. But the lovesick fool in him was still alive, so he couldn't help but focus on Ladybug and Marinette to understand her better. To catch the signs of how she felt about him.

And he had caught a lot of them. When he toned down his flirting a bit, she filled the void with tender and caring gestures instead. Fleeting touches, subtle glances, more delicious food, encouraging notes, and messages. Warm hugs that felt like home. He still found himself lost in the depths of her blue eyes. He was familiar with the waters in that ocean, but now he could spot something new there. Longing. A hint of a raw desire for more that she tried to keep at bay. 

Ladybug and Chat Noir still kept the old façade in front of the public, but now they didn’t need to escape because of beeping Miraculous. They only ran away from nosy reporters and fans to hide on the secluded rooftops. Only then they could share a long-lasting hug and maybe talk a bit more, if they didn’t have other obligations. Adrien and Marinette also became much closer but still kept the distance between them.

He clearly felt her affection on both sides of the mask. He wanted to strengthen their connection, to extend it in real life. But he didn't let himself get his hopes up and set himself for another heartbreak (from the same person, no less) that could be crucial for him.

But today, when he was protecting her during an akuma attack, then was hit and he vanished, something shifted further. He had never seen so much pain mixed with happiness and relief in her expression after her cure restored the city and brought him back. When he held up his fist for their usual bump, she pulled him into a tight hug and started sniffling. He quickly extended his baton and vaulted away to one of their favorite rooftops. There she started crying openly and babbled something about his importance in his chest. He just held her tightly, having nothing new to say in their old arguments about sacrifices. When she stopped crying, she said more confidently that he was important to her and asked for alone time to calm down and catch her breath after a nasty attack. He let her go reluctantly. Now, several hours later, he just lied on some random rooftop, exhausted, trying to catch a breath after a tiresome day.

The low and steady level of the city’s noise lulled him to sleep...

...It was beautiful unspoiled scenery. Hills and fields extended to the horizon, with splashes of different colors on the refreshingly green pattern of the grass; the perfectly blue sky was filled with puffy shaped clouds. Chat felt so happy. He felt that if he jumped high enough he could walk on those clouds as his model self did in the “Adrien The Fragrance” ad. Radiant, carefree, dreamy.

But the superhero didn’t have time for a sprint on a  _ claw _ ded road: he was on a mission. He ran down the hill currently, chasing someone. The girl in the red polka-dotted dress with a waving hem, to be precise. Who else it could be? Miraculously, her hair was down, unlike the usual pigtailed hairstyle; a long red ribbon fluttered in the wind teasing him. Her laughter was heard from far away. 

She ran, and she ran, and she ran, and he chased her. Usually, Chat could keep up with her pace, but now he hadn't even tried. He just sprinted, trying not to lose sight of her and enjoy the moment. 

He tripped on thin air, but got up quickly and ran again, jumping over the little rows of small strawberry and bigger blueberry bushes. A taste of his destined André’s ice-cream lingered in his mouth. “Strawberry with black chocolate chip! Blackberries for her hair, and blueberry ice-cream just like her sky blue stare!” the older man told him during their first encounter. How could he even know that? Eh, he guessed the magic was real, after all. 

Meanwhile, the girl was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he saw a big mirror in a patterned wooden frame looking like a portal to another dimension and went to it. 

Chat looked in it cautiously and saw himself peering from the darkness. “An embodiment of freedom” was his first thought. Ruffled hair, a shiny leather suit that showed off his muscles, slightly wild gaze, and a broad smile. He studied himself for a few long moments. Certainly, not a bad sight. Paris’ beloved hero, huh? Well, that boy looked like a treat for the criminals and a decent example for little kids.

Suddenly, the suit started to disappear on his reflection, leaving the white shirt, the designer jeans, and orange sneakers - his civilian clothes. The boy without his armor looked like a ray of sunshine in the cold emptiness which reminded him of his huge bedroom. Hope shined in the eyes of the reflection, mingled with sadness and longing. 

In real life, Adrien had an unhealthy amount of self-deprecating thoughts. They surrounded him like those clouds on which he had wanted to sprint earlier. But unlike that cotton candy texture, his demons wrapped him up in a heavy, thick, and grey substance like thunderclouds. It was very hard to break through that veil, but he appreciated his kwami and the few people who constantly tried to pull him out of his misery. 

Adrien knew that both the real world and his headspace were much darker and harder on him than that perfect environment in which he was at that moment. But he also could feel that somewhere in the real world existed the person that could help him to turn this dream into reality.

Suddenly, someone hugged him from behind. He saw in the mirror that it was the girl that he was chasing. His Lady. Still clad in red wearing a spotted mask. Her hands ran over his chest, and she pressed herself further into him. He was stunned by small jolts of powerful electricity that coursed between them. The dark fog around their reflection in the mirror started to disappear. Adrien’s body slowly warmed up, filling with life. He knew that his queen (yeah, he upgraded Marinette’s title after the reveal) felt the same. Her dress also started to change color to her signature pink. 

He dreamed of that exact sort of very close physical and mental connection. Where they could understand each other without speaking aloud, where they could remove all the walls between them and merge their lives into one eternal moment of bliss. Several minutes later, he glanced again into the mirror and was amazed by the kaleidoscope of moments. Dates, strolls along the Seine, graduation, a first shared apartment, a hamster, parties with friends and sensual kisses in the dark empty room, a proposal, and a beautiful spring wedding in the blooming gardens. A big house that, unlike his mansion, was warm and crowded, full of love and adoration. The City of love that they had protected selflessly for so long. 

They both held their breath as they watched those visions; Adrien’s heart swelled with emotions and he let himself think that Marinette’s did as well. They knew that the mirror reflected the happiest part of the scenario created by his imagination, and real life usually tended to go on the bumpy road. But those pictures were worth fighting all the evil in the world and breaking thousands of barriers. 

Suddenly, Marinette turned him to her and kissed his cheek, then pressed her forehead to his. Adrien felt the tears that dripped from her eyes onto his face. “Don’t cry, my Lady,” he wanted to say, but his tongue felt too heavy in his mouth. He blinked several times, and the paradise-like landscape was replaced by darkness. Ah yes, he fell asleep, and all that… was that a dream? 

But transformed Marinette was still here, kneeling beside him, crying silently. “Are you even real?” he asked her groggily, still dumbfounded by his fantasy. She laughed through the tears and tackled him, hugging tightly, now from the front. “I’m tired of this hide-and-seek game,” she said. “I love you, Adrien Chat Agreste Noir, and want to run beside you, not away from you.” Chat’s arms wrapped around her hesitantly, as if he was afraid that he could squish her and ruin an illusion of the last chance for happiness and light cutting through his darkness. He kissed her forehead and started purring. 

This was real. They were real: Ladybug and Chat Noir, Adrien and Marinette. All this was worth fighting for. The boy was determined to make it right. And somehow he knew that his girl felt the same. It seemed like they’d already had that connection, not only in a dream. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> If you liked my writing, you can check my other fics — a multichapter songfic [Our Song (Cover Me)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24044518/chapters/57857347), one shot [in your room (will I always be here?)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24422470) for Marichat May 2020, and designer/model AU [Miss Fortune and Prince Charming: The Tale of Second Chances](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24519787/chapters/59196787) for Ladrien June 2020.  
> ______________________________________________________________________________________________________  
> If you like writing/reading fanfiction or drawing MLB fanart and looking for friendly and supportive community, welcome to our [Miraculous Fanwork](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks) Discord Server! There people from different corners of the world share their thoughts and creations, participate in discussions and other types of events. Join us today!


End file.
